Prophets & prophecy
Who is the prophet “like unto Moses”?
In Deuteronomy God promises Moses a prophet “like unto thee”. Christians say this is Jesus; Muslims say it is Muhammad ﷺ. This topic reads the promise closely and tests both answers against it.
1The question
Who fulfils God’s promise in Deuteronomy 18:18 of a prophet like Moses?
2What Christians believe
Christians answer that the promise points to Jesus. Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18 about Jesus in his sermon in the temple (Acts 3:22–23), and Stephen does the same (Acts 7:37).
They also see Jesus as like Moses in many ways: both were saved as babies from a king who killed children, both brought a covenant from God, both did great miracles, and both spoke with God directly. On this view the New Testament itself settles the question.
3What the texts say
The promise
The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
Who are “their brethren”?
And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore:
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
No prophet like Moses in Israel
And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
“That prophet” in the time of Jesus
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
The Christian reading
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
4What scholars say
Many commentators, such as Peter C. Craigie (The Book of Deuteronomy, 1976), read Deuteronomy 18:15–18 first as a promise of a line of prophets in Israel to guide the people after Moses, with a hope for one great prophet developing later.
By the time of Jesus, some Jews expected a single “prophet” distinct from the Messiah. John 1:21–25 shows priests asking John the Baptist three separate questions: is he the Christ, Elijah, or “that prophet”?
The comparison with Muhammad ﷺ is old in Muslim writing and was made popular in English by Ahmed Deedat’s booklet What the Bible Says About Muhammad (1976).
5The Islamic perspective
Muslims point to the details of the promise. The prophet will come “from among their brethren”, the brothers of Israel, and the Bible calls Israel’s neighbours their brethren. He will be “like unto” Moses: a prophet who brought a law, led his people, married, had children and died a natural death, as Muhammad ﷺ did. And God will put his words in the prophet’s mouth. The Qur’an says of the Prophet ﷺ:
Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire. It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired,
Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which are) with them. He will enjoin on them that which is right and forbid them that which is wrong. He will make lawful for them all good things and prohibit for them only the foul; and he will relieve them of their burden and the fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him, and honour him, and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful.
Qur’an 7:157 says the People of the Book will find the Prophet ﷺ described in the Torah and the Gospel. Muslims see Deuteronomy 18 as one of the clearest of those descriptions.
6Objections and responses
“Peter applies the verse to Jesus in Acts 3:22, so the matter is settled.”
Response: Acts gives Peter’s reading, written decades after the promise was first given. The fair test is the promise itself. And in John 1:21–25 the priests treat the Christ and “that prophet” as two different people, which suggests the prophet of Deuteronomy was not simply another name for the Messiah.
“‘Brethren’ means fellow Israelites, as in Deuteronomy 17:15, where the king is chosen ‘from among thy brethren’.”
Response: In 17:15 Moses speaks to Israel about “thy brethren”, Israelites. In 18:18 God speaks to Moses about Israel and promises a prophet “from among their brethren”, the brothers of Israel. The Bible uses “brethren” for Israel’s neighbours too, as with the children of Esau (Deuteronomy 2:4). And Deuteronomy 34:10 says no prophet like Moses arose again in Israel.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that Deuteronomy 18 promises a great prophet like Moses who would speak God’s words. Christians read the New Testament’s answer, Jesus, as final. Muslims test the promise detail by detail and find that Muhammad ﷺ, a lawgiver and leader from the brethren of Israel who recited the words given to him, fits it best.
List the ways the promised prophet must be like Moses, and compare each one with Jesus and with Muhammad ﷺ.
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Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Deuteronomy 18:15Deuteronomy 18:18Deuteronomy 18:19Deuteronomy 2:4Genesis 16:12Deuteronomy 34:10John 1:21John 1:25Acts 3:22
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 53:3–4Qur’an 7:157
- Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy (1976)
- Ahmed Deedat, What the Bible Says About Muhammad (1976)